Touching Lives With Dr. James Merritt

In 1875, poet William Ernest Henley lay in a hospital bed, one leg already amputated, and wrote these now-famous words: “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.” It sounds courageous, but Scripture tells a different story: “Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him” (Psalm 115:3, NIV). In Genesis 17, God appears to Abraham and introduces Himself by a name never used before in all of Scripture—El-Shaddai, God Almighty—because Abraham still hasn’t grasped who is truly in charge. What Abraham discovers in this encounter is the one truth that can anchor any life: When everything seems out of control, everything is under God’s control. To live in that reality, there are three things you need to do: Walk before the Lord, wait on the Lord, and watch for the Lord.